---
title: Writing agent state
icon: "lucide/ArrowRight"
description: Write to agent's state from your application.
---
import RunAndConnect from "@/snippets/integrations/langgraph/run-and-connect.mdx"
import { IframeSwitcher } from "@/components/content"

<IframeSwitcher
  id="shared-state-example"
  exampleUrl="https://feature-viewer.copilotkit.ai/langgraph/feature/shared_state?sidebar=false&chatDefaultOpen=false"
  codeUrl="https://feature-viewer.copilotkit.ai/langgraph/feature/shared_state?view=code&sidebar=false&codeLayout=tabs"
  exampleLabel="Demo"
  codeLabel="Code"
  height="700px"
/>

<Callout type="info">
  This example demonstrates writing to shared state in the [CopilotKit Feature Viewer](https://feature-viewer.copilotkit.ai/langgraph/feature/shared_state).
</Callout>

## What is this?

This guide shows you how to write to your agent's state from your application.

## When should I use this?

You can use this when you want to provide the user with feedback about what your agent is doing, specifically
when your agent is calling tools. CopilotKit allows you to fully customize how these tools are rendered in the chat.

## Implementation

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Run and connect your agent
    <RunAndConnect components={props.components} />
  </Step>
  <Step>
    ### Define the Agent State
    LangGraph is stateful. As you transition between nodes, that state is updated and passed to the next node. For this example,
    let's assume that our agent state looks something like this.

    <Tabs groupId="language_langgraph_agent" items={["Python", "TypeScript"]} persist>
      <Tab value="Python">
        ```python title="agent.py"
        from copilotkit import CopilotKitState
        from typing import Literal

        class AgentState(CopilotKitState):
            language: Literal["english", "spanish"] = "english"
        ```
      </Tab>
      <Tab value="TypeScript">
        ```ts title="agent-js/src/agent.ts"
        import { Annotation } from "@langchain/langgraph";
        import { CopilotKitStateAnnotation } from "@copilotkit/sdk-js/langgraph";

        export const AgentStateAnnotation = Annotation.Root({
            language: Annotation<"english" | "spanish">,
            ...CopilotKitStateAnnotation.spec,
        });
        export type AgentState = typeof AgentStateAnnotation.State;
        ```
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>
  </Step>
  <Step>
    ### Call `setState` function from the `useCoAgent` hook
    `useCoAgent` returns a `setState` function that you can use to update the agent state. Calling this
    will update the agent state and trigger a rerender of anything that depends on the agent state.

    ```tsx title="ui/app/page.tsx"
    import { useCoAgent } from "@copilotkit/react-core"; // [!code highlight]

    // Define the agent state type, should match the actual state of your agent
    type AgentState = {
      language: "english" | "spanish";
    }

    // Example usage in a pseudo React component
    function YourMainContent() {
      const { state, setState } = useCoAgent<AgentState>({ // [!code highlight]
        name: "sample_agent",
        initialState: { language: "english" }  // optionally provide an initial state
      });

      // ...

      const toggleLanguage = () => {
        setState({ language: state.language === "english" ? "spanish" : "english" }); // [!code highlight]
      };

      // ...

      return (
        // style excluded for brevity
        <div>
          <h1>Your main content</h1>
          {/* [!code highlight:1] */}
          <p>Language: {state.language}</p>
          <button onClick={toggleLanguage}>Toggle Language</button>
        </div>
      );
    }
    ```
  </Step>
  <Step>
    ### Give it a try!
    You can now use the `setState` function to update the agent state and `state` to read it. Try toggling the language button
    and talking to your agent. You'll see the language change to match the agent's state.

    <video src="https://cdn.copilotkit.ai/docs/copilotkit/images/coagents/write-agent-state.mp4" className="rounded-lg shadow-xl" loop playsInline controls autoPlay muted />
    <Callout>
      This video shows the result of `npx copilotkit@latest init` with the [implementation](#implementation) section applied to it!
    </Callout>
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Advanced Usage

### Re-run the agent with a hint about what's changed

The new agent state will be used next time the agent runs.
If you want to re-run it manually, use the `run` argument on the `useCoAgent` hook.

The agent will be re-run, and it will get not only the latest updated state, but also a **hint** that can depend on the data delta between the previous and the current state.

```tsx title="ui/app/page.tsx"
import { useCoAgent } from "@copilotkit/react-core";
import { TextMessage, MessageRole } from "@copilotkit/runtime-client-gql";  // [!code highlight]

// ...

function YourMainContent() {
  // [!code word:run:1]
  const { state, setState, run } = useCoAgent<AgentState>({
    name: "sample_agent",
    initialState: { language: "english" }  // optionally provide an initial state
  });

  // setup to be called when some event in the app occurs
  const toggleLanguage = () => {
    const newLanguage = state.language === "english" ? "spanish" : "english";
    setState({ language: newLanguage });

    // [!code highlight:7]
    // re-run the agent and provide a hint about what's changed
    run(({ previousState, currentState }) => {
      return new TextMessage({
        role: MessageRole.User,
        content: `the language has been updated to ${currentState.language}`,
      });
    });
  };

  return (
    // ...
  );
}
```

### Intermediately Stream and Render Agent State
By default, the LangGraph agent state will only update *between* LangGraph node transitions --
which means state updates will be discontinuous and delayed.

You likely want to render the agent state as it updates **continuously.**

See **[predictive state updates](/coagents/shared-state/predictive-state-updates).**
